Piano

AN/ I don't usually write author's notes in my stories, but I just thought I should say hey. So... hey.

I wrote this on a rainy Sunday afternoon because I had nothing to do, and I really wanted to write something about Lucy playing a musical instrument, because I thought that Lucy would be the type of person who could play an instrument. I chose the piano because I play the piano (a little bias, but oh well) and also because I couldn't picture Lucy playing anything else but that (maybe also the guitar, but Mirajane already plays that). So I hope you enjoy, it's not long but I hope you like it

Word Count – 1617

Natsu was bored.

He was currently at the Fairy Tail guild, eating some of the fire food that Mirajane had prepared for him. He had been sitting on that same wooden stool for a little while now, and he was getting frustrated.

There was absolutely nothing to do! Gray had left the guild to go on a week long mission, so he couldn't fight with him, Erza had also left for an S-Class mission, which would take a month to complete before she returned, so the fire dragon slayer couldn't battle with her either (not that he could beat her, anyway). Happy was visiting Wendy and Carla for the day, so he couldn't go fishing with his blue exceed, and Gajeel was off with Levy, who had dragged him to the library, so he couldn't spar with him as well. He could always join Cana for a drinking match, but she was already drunk off her ass, and she would probably taunt him with questions he would rather not answer. And he could always go on a mission, but he just didn't feel like taking one right now.

The pink-haired mage sighed, as he rested his head on the table. If only there was something to do. Mirajane walked over to him, with a concerned expression on her face, as she wiped some of the mugs that she had been washing.

"What's wrong Natsu?" She asked, her calm voice catching his attention.

"I'm really boooored!" The fire dragon slayer whined. "There's nothing to do!"

The barmaid giggled. "How about you go and see Lucy?" She asked. "I haven't seen her around today. Why don't you go up and check on her?"

Natsu looked up at the take-over mage and grinned, his fangs prominent. "Thanks, Mira!" He replied, his mood instantly brighter. He stood up from his chair and ran out the guild doors, his boredom fading away as if it weren't even there. He had finally found someone to hang out with.

It only took a few minutes to run to Lucy's apartment. He was almost there when he heard an unfamiliar noise. 'Is that music?' The pink-haired man thought, as he got closer to the apartment. As he got nearer, the sound became louder. He hadn't heard anything like it before. He knew it wasn't a guitar or bass, as Mirajane (and Gajeel, he shuddered at the thought) had played them loads of times at the guild. This was a sound he hadn't heard of before. It was beautiful and soft. It kept drawing the dragon slayer closer and closer to the source. As he listened to the tune of the song being played, he noticed it was a sad melody, one that sent shivers up his spine. He followed the sound until he reached the front of Lucy's apartment. 'Strange,' Natsu thought. 'Why would such a sound be coming from Lucy's home?'

He opened the front door, which he had never done before, since he always came through Lucy's window, to see the blonde-haired mage, sitting on a leather stool, leaning over a large, wooden contraption, from which the angelic sound was coming from. Her slender fingers pressed down on the white and black keys, playing a haunting piece of which Natsu had never heard of. Smooth, brown wood curled delicately underneath the keys her fingers were dancing over. The fire dragon slayer was astounded. He had never heard of such beautiful music in his life.

He was suddenly afraid that his arrival disturbed Lucy from playing, but the music never wavered. Her chocolate brown eyes were closed, but he could tell she was concentrating very hard; by the way her eyebrows were furrowed. He crept towards the back of the room, quietly, and sat on her bed. He then closed his own eyes as to help concentrate and listen to the music better.

There was so much emotion in the song that his friend was playing. It was sad, haunting and downright depressing. But it was so powerful and mesmerizing as well. He may not listen to music often, but he knew good music when he heard it. This was good music, fantastic even. It was such a large instrument she was playing, and it held such mysterious powers, which Lucy was releasing. She looked as if she was pouring her heart and soul into the song, and Natsu had no intention of stopping it.

After a few minutes, the song finished and the music ended. Lucy opened her eyes and looked down at the large instrument, stroking her fingers against the keys as she gave a soft smile.

"Lucy." Natsu said, scaring the celestial mage. She jumped from her seat, ran over to the bed, and scolded Natsu.

"What did you do that for?" The blonde-haired girl shouted, angrily. "You know you aren't supposed to come here without my permission! When will you listen to me?" She hit Natsu on the head, making him groan in pain.

"Sorry, Luce." Natsu replied, rubbing his head to make the pain go away. Lucy just looked down at the fire mage, and laughed softly.

"It's alright, you idiot." Lucy said, smiling. "Why did you come?"

"I was bored." The pink-haired man responded, making Lucy giggle. Natsu's eyes were then drawn to the massive, wooden contraption in the middle of Lucy's room. "What is that thing?" He asked, and Lucy turned around to see what he was talking about.

"Oh, that." Lucy said, cheerfully. "It's a piano. I bought it with the extra money I've been saving from our missions."

"Well, you're really good." Natsu said, making Lucy smile. "It sounded amazing."

"Thank you Natsu." Lucy replied. "I didn't even know you came in while I was playing. I guess I was really focused, huh." She chuckled, quietly. "I learned how to play back when I lived with my father. My mother wanted me to learn it, and it was one of the only classes I ever enjoyed, apart from English." She gave a sad smile, as she thought of her mother and how much fun she had before she passed away. Natsu also went quiet, as he gave her time to reminisce. "I guess I missed having a kind of connection with my mother through the piano, so I bought one."

Natsu just sat on the ground, as Lucy stared down at him, with a sad smile. He knew Lucy missed her mother, but he didn't know that she even played the piano, or why for that matter. He looked up at the celestial wizard, and grinned.

"Well, I really like it, Lucy." He stood up and walked over to the big machine, Lucy right behind him, watching over the fire mage to make sure he didn't break it, as he did with many objects. "How do you play it?" He asked, as he remembered how Lucy's fingers roamed the many keys of the piano, playing many notes at a time.

"Well," Lucy started off, sitting down on the stool once again, Natsu sitting next to her. "It took me a couple of years to get the hang of it, but once you get used to reading these notes, –" She handed Natsu a few sheets of paper, to which he saw lines and circles, which made him really confused. "- Then you can play almost anything!"

"This is really confusing." The fire dragon slayer said, handing back the pages of Lucy, who just laughed. "How do you read this?"

"I told you, it took me years until I finally understood it all." Lucy replied. "But now it's easy for me."

"Can you play some more for me?" Natsu asked, with a hopeful gleam in his eyes.

"I'm not sure Natsu, it's been a few years since I've played it properly, I don't really remember much." Lucy replied.

"Pleeeeeaaaaase?" He begged, a pout in his face. Lucy giggled; Natsu really was cute when he pouted.

"Fine." Lucy said, making Natsu grin once again, as he left to sit on her bed as Lucy began to play. She played for hours, the ivory white and charcoal black keys moving up and down as she pressed them, creating a variety of happy and sad music, all of which Natsu thought was beautiful.

It was night time when Lucy finally stopped, and when Natsu had to leave to gather Happy from the guild.

"You should play at the guild, sometime." He suggested before leaving, startling Lucy.

"W-What?" Lucy stuttered. "I can't play at the guild! What if I stuff up? I am nowhere as good compared to Mirajane! I would make mistakes and I don't think anyone would like it!"

"Lucy." Natsu said, grabbing Lucy's shoulders. "You are a beautiful piano player. You need to show others this talent that you have. They're all missing out." Lucy blushed at this statement, and she thought it was very sweet of him to say that. She reached up to peck Natsu on the cheek, and quickly turned away after doing so, her cheeks becoming redder.

"Th-Thank you, Natsu." The blonde-haired mage replied. "Maybe in the future, I might play. I'll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Night." Natsu said, as he walked out the door, his own cheeks flushed. He stood outside her apartment for another few minutes as he pulled himself together. 'One small kiss on the cheek didn't mean anything,' he tried to convince himself. 'She was only thanking me, yeah, that's it.'

He ended up staying outside her apartment for another hour, when he heard the celestial mage start to play again. The music she played was one of the most beautiful sounds he had ever heard in his life.